All Topics  
Book sales club

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Book sales club
 
 
  Topics Book sales club Topic Home

A book sales club is a subscription-based method of selling and purchasing books. It is more often called simply a book club, a term that is also used to describe a book discussion club, which can cause confusion.

member of a book sales club agrees to receive books by mail and pay for them as they are received. This may be done by means of negative option billing
Negative option billing

Negative option billing is a business practice in which goods or services are provided automatically, and the customer must either pay for the service or specifically decline it in advance of billing....
 in which the customer receives an announcement of the book or books along with a form to notify the seller if the customer does not want the book.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Book sales club'
Start a new discussion about 'Book sales club'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


A book sales club is a subscription-based method of selling and purchasing books. It is more often called simply a book club, a term that is also used to describe a book discussion club, which can cause confusion.

How book sales clubs work

Each member of a book sales club agrees to receive books by mail and pay for them as they are received. This may be done by means of negative option billing
Negative option billing

Negative option billing is a business practice in which goods or services are provided automatically, and the customer must either pay for the service or specifically decline it in advance of billing....
 in which the customer receives an announcement of the book or books along with a form to notify the seller if the customer does not want the book. If the customer fails to return the form by a specified date, the seller will ship the book and expect the customer to pay for it, or the business may operate via a "positive option" in which the customer is periodically sent a list of books offered, but none is sent until the customer specifically orders them. The offer of a free book, often a large one, is a frequent enticement to membership. The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary

The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press , is a comprehensive dictionary of the English language. Two fully-bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989; as of December 2008 the dictionary's current editors have completed a quarter of the third edition....
 for years served this purpose. Some clubs offer new members other (non-book) free gifts, such as book notes or reading lights.

Some book sales clubs are "continuity" clubs, which send members a certain number of books (selected by the club or the member) every month until the membership expires or is canceled. Harlequin Book Clubs are typical of such clubs. Other book sales clubs are "commitment" clubs, which require members to order a certain number of books in order to fulfill the membership obligation and cancel the membership. Most Book-of-the-Month Clubs
Book of the Month Club

The Book of the Month Club is a United States mail-order business, customers of which are offered a new book each month.The Book of the Month Club is part of a larger company that runs many book clubs in the United States and Canada....
 are commitment clubs.

Book sales clubs typically sell books at a sizable discount
Discount

A "Discount" is a "Charge" that is paid to obtain the right to delay a payment. Essentially, the payer purchases the right to make a given payment in the future instead of in the Present....
 from their list prices. Often, the books sold are editions created specifically for sale by the clubs, and are manufactured more cheaply and less durably than the regular editions.

The Book-of-the-Month Club
Book of the Month Club

The Book of the Month Club is a United States mail-order business, customers of which are offered a new book each month.The Book of the Month Club is part of a larger company that runs many book clubs in the United States and Canada....
 (founded 1923) is an early and well known example of this kind of business. Others include the Science Fiction Book Club, the Mystery Book Club, and the Quality Paperback Book Club, all of which are run by Booksonline / Doubleday Entertainment (a subsidiary of Bookspan). The largest book of the month clubs have millions of members.

See also

  • Collins Crime Club
    Collins Crime Club

    The Collins Crime Club was an imprint of UK book publishers William Collins and ran from May 6, 1930 to April 1994 in literature. It was not a Book sales club in the usual sense of the word in that customers did not have to subscribe to the club with promises to buy a certain number of volumes each year....
  • Scholastic Corporation


External links

  • directory of book sales clubs
  • How Do Book Clubs Work?
  • The original book club directory site.
  • Book club for books by African American authors.